Beginning Music Teachers

X. oday's teachers face a variety of major challenges on a daily basis, including large classes, students with special needs, and multicultural, multilingual student populations. New teachers sometimes mistake the uneasiness and panic they experience during their first few years in the classroom as an indication that they have chosen the wrong profession (Grissmer and Kirby, 1991). According to Arnold, Choy, & Bobbitt (1993), beginning teachers measure their expectations against the realities of their classrooms, and if they find that an adequate support system is not available, many new teachers will look elsewhere. Because the quality of many music programs depends on the continuity of their music teachers, music teacher attrition and turnover can create a serious problem for most schools. Phelps (1983) found that more than half of music teachers surveyed eventually intended to leave teaching. Why do new music teachers stay in the profession? Why do they leave? How could they be better enabled to stay? These are a few of the questions examined by this study. Current research indicates that the largest number of teacher departures occur during the first ten years of teaching (Karge, 1993). For the purposes of this study, the term "beginning teachers" refers to those who have been teaching for less than ten years. Huling-Austin (1987) suggests that there are a few characteristics in the first few years of teaching that most beginners share, including: (1) finding the first years exceptionally challenging, (2) experiencing fear, anxiety, isolation, and loneliness, (3) lacking significant collegial support, and (4) not being prepared for the transition into the role of teacher. Lortie (1975) emphasizes the usually brief duration of student teaching and the isolation of beginning teachers from their colleagues as significant factors that influence new teachers' problems. Darling-Hammond, Wise, and Klein (1999) assert